


Short-circuit

by Abandoning_The_Crown



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: BD-1 Is The Best (Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order), Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, POV Second Person, Reader is an AT-ST driver, Set during the first AT-ST boss fight, Zeffo (Star Wars), terrible puns, well maybe not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28213725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abandoning_The_Crown/pseuds/Abandoning_The_Crown
Summary: Never did the silence feel so crushing. Your arm has already started to fall asleep.The little droid looked over to its owner, tilting its head, while the Jedi's facial expression seemed to have gone dark.Yup. Today was definitely not your day.
Relationships: Cal Kestis & Reader, Cal Kestis/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	Short-circuit

A transmission came through, making you wince as the unnecessarily loud static filled your ears. The Jedi was on his way to the ship, and it was up to you to interfere.

You sighed. Going in alone, again.

The AT-ST made screeching noises as you directed it forward, feeling the durasteel under your feet vibrate with each movement. You straightened your back, sending a short message to your superior to indicate that you knew of your objective, and so you headed towards the specified target.

Zeffo was a nice planet. You liked it here more than any of your previous destinations, really; the air was fresh and crisp, sometimes even cold - the wind roaming those green plains and ruins was rare, yet when it decided to play around, it brought a sense of freedom with it. You could almost forget the fact that you were practically chained to your AT-ST, not allowed to leave it unless given permission.

You huffed out a breath. Thankfully, the interior was blissfully empty; you couldn't imagine what it was like to be stuck with another being in this stuffy box for hours, just waiting for orders. Apparently your superior had faith in you, if they permitted to proceed with the attack all alone.

Or the opposite, they just wanted to get rid of you.

You didn't know much of the Jedi aside from the rumors whispered amongst the stormtroopers during breaks. Handling the Jedi was a task most suitable for the Purge Troopers, since they trained for it and all. That thought added more fuel to the fire, and you swallowed nervously. If that was the case, why wouldn't any of the Purge Troopers come down here from the Imperial headquarters? It's not like it was a long walk. Why send you, all alone, knowing well that the Jedi will be here any second now?

You willed your heart to stop beating so fast. You will be safe, you tried telling yourself. The AT-ST wasn't some fragile droid, it was a machine meant for destruction. If powerful cannons, missiles and grenades were more than enough to fend off large groups of enemies, then why would you even think that all of this wouldn't work on _one_ Jedi? That was stupid.

The target ship - an S-161 "Stinger" XL luxury yacht, might you add - came into view, as did two figures that stood outside. A human female and a Latero male. The male had four arms, you noted absentmindedly, that he immediately started flailing around in panic upon noticing the AT-ST headed their way; the woman stared in stunned silence as you directed the transport further towards the center of the landing pad, pushing some buttons on the control panel to bring up the laser cannons. You've made your intentions clear.

Both ran back into the ship as fast as they could, the door sliding shut after them. You have fully expected them to come back out, sporting heavy blasters to protect themselves, but nothing happened. You waited thirty seconds, sighing when the door of the ship remained shut. It was a nice ship, too - a shame you had to destroy it.

You opened fire. The exterior proved to be much more sturdy than you had initially thought, soaking up the damage as if it was nothing; you fired again and again, occasionally sparing a glance to the small map that showed up on the screen before you.

When you turned the AT-ST, your eyes immediately fell on the Jedi that stood rooted to the spot, staring up at the giant of a machine in puzzled wonder.

Well, this was it. You waited for him to activate his lightsaber, watching as color reflected off the water puddles on the ground, illuminating the air and painting it a soft, calming blue. You fired.

To say that the fight turned out to be harder than you thought might have been an understatement. The Jedi was good at deflecting laser bolts back at you, which made the AT-ST rattle and sway, so you made haste to use the missiles instead. Surely he couldn't deflect those, right? And indeed, he dove out of the way as soon as he saw it coming. He was patient, circling the landing pad, leading you on and using everything to his advantage.

You were getting worried. The beeping, flaring with red panel at your side showed that the walker was badly damaged, and that it will most likely collapse if more damage was dealt. You sucked in a shuddering breath through your teeth, acutely aware of how tired you felt from repeating the same actions over and over again, with seemingly no effect on the enemy himself.

You were stuck here with him, not the other way around.

When you fired from the laser cannons again, you braced yourself, squeezing your eyes shut when you caught glimpse of the fire being deflected back at you.

Your estimations have been correct. With a defeated groan, the AT-ST tilted forward, and you couldn't help a scream when you felt it fall face-first onto the ground. The entire transport went down in a hail of durasteel and bright sparks, almost taking away your hearing from how loud it all happened.

You must've hit your head; with a groan, you pushed yourself up, slowly crawling towards the hatch at the top of the control cabin.

Fresh cold air flooded your lungs, and you coughed, pressing your hand to your side as you stilled and took a moment to breathe.

Footsteps were heard from behind - or above? The side? Your head was spinning - and you suddenly remembered that you were not alone. With a startled yelp, you moved, kicking at your seat as you hurried to stand, failing and landing on your hands and knees, but immediately twisting around to sit on your bottom, all the while attempting to pinpoint the exact location of the enemy.

You froze awkwardly upon finding the red-haired Jedi standing right before you, lightsaber ignited and humming impatiently. He was very young, you didn't even realize that.

It took you a moment to process that he wasn't attacking you for now, and so you stayed sitting there, legs tense from the uncomfortable position. You didn't dare to move, staring up at the Jedi and doing your best to not appear scared. You knew that you failed miserably.

The silence that established between you two was interrupted with a quiet chirp from somewhere behind the Jedi. Your eyes snapped to his left shoulder, and you blinked upon finding a small droid positioning itself there, big, curious sockets turning towards you.

Now it was the three of you staring wordlessly at each other. You couldn't figure out what to say, how to breach the topic and convince the Jedi that you posed no threat to him or his friends now; when you opened your mouth and started talking, you realized that the words leaving you weren't what you had planned to say at all.

"Does your droid have any brothers?"

Both the Jedi and the droid remained silent, now a twin look of confusion flashing across both of their faces.

Ah, screw it. You managed a trembling smile. "The answer's no. Only transistors."

Never did the silence feel so crushing. Your arm has already started to fall asleep.

The little droid looked over to its owner, tilting its head, while the Jedi's facial expression seemed to have gone dark.

Yup. Today was definitely not your day.

"I bet his favorite type of music is heavy metal." you tried again, shrinking visibly upon noticing the redhead's brows move downwards, the corner of his mouth twitching. Was he trying to contain the laughter, or was he trying to contain the urge to decapitate you right there and then? You couldn't tell.

Which was the reason why you went further.

"I guess if you were to kill me now for my terrible puns," you paused and gulped, eyeing the blazing lightsaber. Blue was such a cool color. Haha. "Your droid's last words to me would be... _rust in peace._ "

A sudden sharp noise was heard from the droid, something similar to an infinitely annoyed screech; the Jedi turned to look at his companion, yet you caught onto a small, wavering smile he attempted to erase from his face. Too late, it rushed to your head akin to adrenalin, numbing all sense of self-preservation and forcing the next words out of your aching throat. You didn't know if you wanted to laugh hysterically or cry hysterically. "It seems that I've made your droid angry." Both of them looked back towards you, and you waited for a long second before finishing the job. "I'm sorry. I won't push your buttons anymore."

A string of colorful, high-pitched shrieks was heard from the droid as it actively started to shake its head, as if your words had somehow managed to hurt its auditory sensors. Its owner, on the contrary, placed a gloved hand over his face and started laughing, his droid shaking along with his shoulders. You joined in, feeling as if a mountain had fallen off your shoulders, and a startling realization came to mind: that was the first time you openly laughed with someone else in a long, long while. The feeling was... nice.

The fun was over too soon: out of the corner of your eye, you saw something spark inside of the AT-ST, and you yelped in distress upon realizing what was going to happen now.

The Jedi seemed to have been thinking the same; both of you ran in opposite directions, him - towards the Stinger, you - towards the pile of crates located on the other side of the landing pad. You had barely rolled over a tall storage container and dropped to the ground when the AT-ST exploded, chunks of durasteel flying in different directions before slamming back down onto the ground; smoke rose from the remains of the walker that spat out bright blue and yellow sparks every now and then.

You cautiously stood up, finding the Jedi with your eyes; he was already halfway inside of the ship, walking backwards with his lightsaber still ignited. When he caught sight of you, he hesitated before giving you a curt nod. You stared for a second before straightening your back and sending him a grin and a mock salute in return - he seemed to have smiled, although you weren't sure of that. You watched him disappear behind the shiny door, and stood there, frozen to the spot as the ship immediately took off, zooming out of sight in seconds.

That stupid grin refused to come off. Your gaze landed on the smoking scraps left of the AT-ST, and you shook your head, chuckling to yourself before grabbing a communicator from your belt.

It was time to report this mess. Well... most of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Lord forgive me for those terrible puns. Please leave a heart if you liked my work :')


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